Happy Halloween! Blessed Samhain!

I wanted to share the Halloween slideshow with all my friends. Here are the photos from our Halloween adventures, from my very own bloody cupcakes and vampire kids to zombie best friends and even Little Elly Bo Peep.

Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!



While the veil between worlds is at its thinnest tonight, the dead walk among us. Don't forget to set out an extra plate at dinner tonight for lost loved ones. They just might decide to join you.

The Every Day Zombie

If there's anything I've learned during my recent foray into zombie culture, it's that the best zombie stories in the world are not the typical zombie apocalypse tales they terrorize us with in the movies. While I won't deny George A. Romero is one of my heroes, and that his films are a definite inspiration, many of the better zombie stories I've read have been different. Zombies as advocates for painful death, zombies rising to support anti-gun laws, murder victims rising cursed from their graves to follow their killers like lovesick puppies... all relative in a world gone mad without the apocalyptic pressure. Those situations are all on the more extreme level, but there are worlds in which zombies and humans coincide, where teachers hang onto their drive and try to teach the zombie children even though there is no hope for the future.

One of the nice things about zombies is that there is an abundance of material for research, and writers like Max Brooks make their fictional contributions so incredibly real that you can almost imagine you're living in an upside down world infested with the walking dead.

I started to have a moment of anxiety over the fact that I hadn't drawn up a master plan for NaNoWriMo, even though I rarely plan before hand. Then I decided to adopt a zombie mentality about it. Zombies have no plans. They don't have elaborate or extensive plots driving them; they simply are. While I have the basic idea formulating always in the back of my mind, I know that anything can shift the plan at any time and I'm not afraid.

I do still have my zombie short story to finish--a piece I hope will be connected to the world I am creating in the novel. I had a point where I wanted the two female protagonists from the stories to at least cross paths, so that should be fun. Here's hoping I get it done before tomorrow night. At least the rough draft anyway. The Ghost Hunters Live seven hour episode hosted by Josh Gates has me hesitant to even start my NaNo novel at midnight, but I'm sure I'll find a way. I'm also still debating on whether or not I want to go to the local kickoff. Meeting new people is scary. Zombies don't meet new people, they eat them. :p

A Writer's Soundtrack: Musically Inspired

As long as I can remember, music has existed side by side with writing as one of my passions. While I only dabbled very uneducatedly in making music myself, it has played an important role in my personal inspirations as a writer. Often, I put together soundtracks to keep me company while writing, while also acting secretly as inspiration.

While dreaming up my NaNoWriMo plot bunny for 2008, a zombie apocalypse with a possible humorous twist, I dug into the dark side for bands like Tristania, Siren, Cradle of Filth, Old Man's Child, Type O Negative, Children of Bodon, Dimmu Borgir... you get the point. I've also got great zombie-themed songs like the Horror Pops "Walk Like a Zombie," Wednesday 13's "I Walked With a Zombie," and The Cramps' "Zombie Dance." I wanted to create a dark atmosphere with an air of hopeless beauty. Music like the above listed bands really gets me into that mood. I will probably also tune into AOL's streaming Halloween station from to time as well, despite the fact that Halloween will be over, because they play some great tunes.

As I was working on my last novel project (first draft down, major edits to go!!,) I listened almost primarily to country music. Artists like Dierks Bentley, Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry and Big & Rich were my soundscape, while creating the mood and atmosphere surrounding a successful young journalist who has forsaken family, friendship and love for her career until she's forced to return to her small hometown after her mother's death. Nothing like a little country music to get you depressed, but then turn around and lift you up as well.

I know a lot of people who can't even think with the radio on, but I couldn't imagine not having a backdrop of music weaving through my creative process--especially when exploring the emotional side of my characters. How much of a part does music play in your writing? Do you create soundtracks to help get you into and sustain the mood you're trying to capture?

In other news, for those of you writing about vampires, or simply looking for a great Halloween treat, check out this awesome page I did for Mahalo yesterday: Vampire Cupcakes Be sure to check out the links on bleeding vampire bite cupcakes! They are AWESOME!! I can't wait to get the stuff to make some of these for my niece and daughter. have I mentioned lately that Halloween is my favorite holiday.

NaNo Planning: To Plan, or Not to Plan... That is the Question

I have never been a major fan of planning ahead. I write much like I go through life: by the seat of my pants. In the twenty-two years I have been writing, I've always just dived right in and gone from there. Maybe once the plot thickens and I need to keep track of things, I will start o record them in a neat manner for future reference, but when it comes to planning most of that is done inside my head.

Characters come to me. Maybe you'll think that's crazy, but it's how it's always been. They come to me and tell me their story, and I record it for them. When the relative experience is really deep, or I feel particularly connected to it, the story comes out in first person. Many of them are written in third person limited because the characters are what drive a lot of my stories. Personal experiences that reach out and grab others... things that someone can read and say, "Oh my word! I have felt like that!"

So, when it comes to planning out where and when things will happen, most of that is done in my head. It's similar to planning, I suppose, but without all the structure to limit my creative process. I have tried to be neat and tidy... the second year I did NaNoWriMo I had a great structure all mapped out. Character sheets, chapter-by-chapter plotting, the works, but there is no story. In fact, the few thousand words I actually expended on the story don't even feel salvageable to me.

I started to plan and plot once I decided on a subject for this year's NaNoWriMo, but then I realized that one of the pushes of NaNoWriMo is finishing a novel in thirty days. The drive is in the deadline. Finishing the first draft is what is important. So, I tossed my written plans out the window and have returned to mentally tossing ideas about until it comes time to start dropping them onto paper on November 1st.

So, do you plan before your write? Do you feel as if you can't get through the first draft without a strong plan? Do you wing it, and worry about filling in any holes once the first draft is done?

Yes, My Friends, The World Has Come to This!

So I popped by Mahalo this morning, like I always do, to see what was in the news, and the story that caught my eye was this one: Maple Story Murder

Maple Story, if you're not sure, is a Korean virtual gaming world similar to the Sims and WoW. Possibly even a bit of a cross between the two. So this woman gets mad at her virtual husband for not telling her he wants a divorce. She logs into his account with information he entrusted to her and deletes his user information. Now she's facing up to five years in prison.

In a similar story two Dutch teenagers bullied another boy into giving over his magical items.

It's as if the supposed anonymity of the internet has given people an impression that they can just do whatever they please without any consequence. Well, guess what? The internet police are watching, and they aren't going to put up with internet crime!

Why Days Like Today Suck...

Back in the day, when I was a smoker, I used to get headaches like mad. It was pretty common to wake up with a migraine, especially this time of year. After I quit smoking, the headaches all but stopped, save for a few rare here and there doozies. The thing that sucks about them, is life can't stop just because I have a headache. I logged into work today because I have a long list of terms to get through, but after four hours I found myself going over and correcting more mistakes than I'm used to making.

I took some meds and ran to the store. When I came home, I started up a pot of coffee, not thinking about their being extra caffeine in the meds I took, or the coffee I drank this morning. I logged back into work, and about two hours into a delicious cup of coffee I start to feel dizzy and jacked. Caffeine overload. :( So, the headache is pretty much gone, but I spent the rest of the evening on the couch waiting for the jittering earth to stop moving so obviously.

Why does all of this suck? It's now 10:30. I have a short story that's about 3/4's of the way through the first draft. I know how it ends, but I don't have the energy or motivation to work on it tonight. Instead, I'm blogging nonsense, whining about how short the last season of Destination Truth was and crawling slowly toward my bed.

Tomorrow will be awesome. I already know that. I'm looking forward to it.

Writers Don't Need No Education... or Do They?

A fantastic post on the The Blood-Red Pencil called Rules of Artistic License by mystery author Lillie Ammann got me to thinking about education and writing. Her post reminded me of one of the earliest rules I learned as a writer, over twenty years ago: You have to know the rules before you can break them.

In all honesty, I don't think I understood what that really meant for years. I thought if I spent a few years with my nose buried in grammar books, it gave me some kind of artistic license. I also thought that writing was a talent, not something that could be learned in a classroom. Naive, you betcha! Sure, you needed to know how to string sentences together to write, but there are devices we use as writers that may come naturally to some, but not others. After years of writing with absolutely no idea how to publish, I finally had the opportunity to go back to school and get my bachelor's degree.

My nonsense about not needing a classroom to learn about writing was quickly swallowed like a steaming bite of humble pie when the Act-101 adviser slapped me into a remedial writing program based solely on the fact that I never took my SATs. Sure, I breezed through the class with a perfect A score, but it was only the beginning of an education I will cherish for the rest of my life. Once I was able to enroll in actual writing courses, I was introduced to other writers. Some were my age, others younger, but our greatest asset was mutual experience and the workshop environment. I had shared my writing with friends in the past, but never a group of fellow authors.

I learned more from my writing classmates and professors than I could ever imagine, and while I'm certainly no Stephen King (yet) I know a bit more about publishing and writing these days. One thing I took away from school that has aided me continually since graduation is that even if I've heard it all before... even if I think I know everything there is to know about writing, there is always something else to learn. We can always use a refresher course in grammar, style, plot and character from time to time. It's like sharpening a pencil. The more you use it, the duller it becomes, so keep it sharp.

The internet is a great educational tool, but I also love to read about writing. Whether I'm researching a novel concept, or simply reading a great book like Jordan Rosenfeld's Make a Scene, I always want to grow and expand my writerly horizons.

So, writers, what are some of your favorite educational tools and books? What as a writer would you rather not live without?

Why Write Horror in a Horrific World and Time?

Recently a friend of mine asked me why I wanted to write about zombies, especially in light of dismal world circumstances. "Isn't there enough doom and gloom in the world without adding to it with another apocalyptic horror story?"

My answer was complicated. I knew why I wanted to write about zombies, but I wasn't sure how I could put it into words so someone else might understand my reasoning. Did you ever see that "Scared Straight" program the correctional facilities do to youth offenders? Instead of sending you to prison, we're going to give you a hardcore glimpse at what awaits you if you don't straighten up and fly right. The concept I'm employing for myself is similar, only with zombies and life.

I reached a point where I started to feel like my own life was askew. Not that I'm eating brains, or anything horrid, but I had fallen into some serious patterns in my life that were detrimental to my physical and mental health. Sluggishly moaning through life, the purpose behind my every move revolved around the next paycheck, the next meal, the next night's sleep... I felt like I was hardly existing in a world that was slowly crumbling down around me.

Depression? Maybe a little, but for the most part it was just this empty, lacking feeling in my life. The last big risk I had really taken had been going back to college at 27, and after I graduated I fell into a comfortable, but risky freelancing lifestyle. Life was comfortable. Even if our lifestyle didn't always feel comfortable there was a lot of pressure and fear about maintaining our comfort level. Zombies don't think about comfort. Zombies don't think about anything, they just go through the motions and devour in order to maintain their existence. To me, that is the same thing as sacrificing your wants to exist comfortably.

So, my zombie desire awakened. Suddenly I started to think about life in a new way. I thought about humanity, and how all too often things seem impersonal and disconnected in our world now. I wondered if there were an apocalypse tomorrow, how would people react. It made me think of this old episode of the Twilight Zone. A man spent a year building a fall out shelter for his family, and all of his friends laughed at him. Then the big one hit and when he and his family fled to their shelter, no one else had a safe place to go. The friends became violent, insistent that he owed them space in his fallout shelter. Even for the time it was filmed, it was brutal.

I started to question myself about how I might react in an apocalypse situation. We tend to live in a remote area, but we're also along a major highway. We have a nice plot of land and could easily slip into the woods if needed, but if people came to us looking for help would I turn them away? Would I run, constantly motivated by my own safety over everything else? Now, I don't want to be a hero, but I certainly don't want to be a coward either, so that is where my desire to write about zombies really kicked in. I wanted to explore the human condition. I wanted to put people in different situations and see how they would react under pressure. Maybe I even wanted to create a zombie slaying heroine or two that started out afraid of the world, then rose to the ranks and became a bit of a leader. Because if there is anything I learned in college that changed the way I will think about my actions for the rest of my life, it was this: There are three types of people. 1. People who latch onto leaders because they don't want to be responsible for the outcome 2. People who willingly aid leaders in an attempt to make a better situation 3. Leaders. In my life I have done everything in my power to be a #3, and when I fall short there, I do my best to be a #2, but as long as I live, I never want to be the #1.

Of course, there is a fourth type of person, but that is the zombie, and even though they once lived, zombies aren't really people anymore. I know I never want to be a zombie either.

So, in answer to that question, I do think there is enough horror and violence in our world. I could probably live out the rest of my life rather peacefully if I never saw the trailer for another SAW movie or psychopathic serial murdering Hitchhiker film. See, there's a difference between zombies, vampires and werewolves. They are the kind of nightmares we can recover from at the end of the movie. We may look over our shoulders a few times, peer through the blinds as the wind moans through the night like a corpse from the grave, but at the end of the night we can go to bed without losing much sleep. We see enough true horrors like murder, mutilation and terrorism every day in the media that it's actually nice to step back and slip into an imaginary world where the horror is supernatural and not the cruel result of our fellow man.

Tuning Into the Universe: Zombies! Zombies, Everywhere, and Not a Brain to Eat!

It never ceases to amaze me just how easily things start to fall into place once you've made a decision to focus on something. I am thinking of my current plot and the plot I've chosen for my NaNoWriMo Project at the moment. Zombies. Now, any given day of the week you can pop into the video store and rent a zombie movie, and there are some pretty obscure zombie novel titles out on the market, but we live in Smalltown, Pennsylvania. All too often, even the most popular topics and items don't show up here until two months after everyone else has moved on. Even our local Borders Store didn't stock the latest Neil Gaiman book without a request. Sick. I know.

So, when I began immersing into zombie culture, I expected little, to no help from the local library, video rental store or Borders. When I first started looking three weeks ago, the library had nothing. They still have nothing. I can probably order titles from one of the other branches in our county system, but even the system has NOTHING on zombies. Not even the Haitian voodoo zombies. The video store has actually gotten in some pretty obscure titles, even a few foreign zombie flicks. I was shocked. The greatest shock came from our local Borders store. In the last three weeks they went from having nothing more than the Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z books to putting out an entire display of zombie books, including Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your Brains and The Zen of Zombie: Better Living Through the Undead.

The section containing survivalist books had also added quite a few titles, making recent trips to Borders somewhat expensive. All in the sake of research--completely necessary, of course. It's also nice to expand your horizons and your library, so I'm certainly not complaining.

Now here's the thing. Either the universe is completely tuned into what I need right now, or everyone better start preparing because the zombie apocalypse is coming. I'm giving credit to the universe, but if zombies do attack, at least I'll be prepared. ;)

Lazy Days

I had big plans for today, but the day started slowly. I woke up with a sinus headache, and by the time it was gone, so was the morning. I had made plans with my best friend and her husband for this evening. He was coming over to clean our furnace and she and I were going to hang out. So after we ran errands, we came home and I literally got sucked in by the emptiness of television. I wasted an entire hour of my life watching some show on the Food Network about making cities out of cake. Then I fell asleep through Indiana Jones.

I was so disappointed, but the movie really didn't keep my interest. Most of the adventure felt like it recycled over itself... chase chase chase chase chase Mayan temple. The End. I was really looking forward to that movie.

By the time I woke up and got around to anything, Chris and her husband were here. It was nice spending time with them, but man. Where did the rest of the day go?

The TV gods should feel sated. They sucked out half of my soul today. I'm going to lay in bed with some research after I write at least 500 words. I can't let myself go to bed without putting a smidge of effort into writing today, especially since I plan to work tomorrow.

I think we all need a lazy day now and again, but no matter what they always leave me feeling a little guilty. Like I don't deserve to relax.

M. Night Syamalan's The Happening

Something happens to me every time I watch one of M. Night Shyamalan's films that draws a line between me and what I feel like is the rest of the world. Sometimes my reaction is so different than that of my peers, I wonder if we've even seen the same movie. Because we don't go to the movie theatre often, I don't get to watch a lot of movies until they come out on DVD. By that time, everyone and their sister's cat has given away secrets or spoiled the ending for me. I will not do that here, in case you haven't seen it yet.

There are three things that all of Shyamalan's movies have in common for me. 1. I hear a lot about what a waste of time it will be for me to even watch it. 2. I tend to be one of the last people on earth to even see it. 3. I actually enjoy them.

The reason I enjoy Shyamalan's films is because despite the "big knock your socks off reveal" that's become a bit of a signature for him since The Sixth Sense, he actually focuses on some of the things I personally feel are really important in every day living. Love, family, intuition, synchronicity and waking up to personal purpose and identity before it's too late.

For me, The Happening was another great Shyamalan film. I felt that people overdramatized the extreme violence and horror and save for a few scant scenes, I really didn't see what the big deal was. That said, I consider myself less desensitized by the media than most people because I don't spend 24 hours a day soaking in the doom and gloom. So, I certainly didn't overlook or pretend I didn't see the violence. While nearly everyone I knew came out of the movie saying it was depressing and violent, not one of them ever commented on the overall message.

And before those of you who have seen it start to puff up and prepare to call me a tree-hugging hippie lover, maybe I do smell just a bit like patchouli and I'm not the least bit ashamed of it.

Cooking with Beans: Scrummy Shepherd's Pie

I won't lie. I'm Scots-Irish and until Monday I had never eaten shepherd's pie. Something about it scared me for years, meat and tomatoes mixed with mashed potatoes. BLAH! Then I realized that what had typically been presented to me as shepherd's pie was not actual shepherd's pie, but the version commonly called cottage pie. The difference between a shepherd's pie and the American-style cottage pie is mostly in the meat used. Shepherd's pie is made with lamb, while cottage pie in America is often made with ground beef. Talk about a heavy drop in the belly. No thanks!

So, I did some shepherd's pie research after hearing Chef Gordon Ramsey talked about his family recipe on his reality television show, Kitchen Nighthmares. I figure if Gordon Ramsey will put something in his mouth and swallow, it can't be that bad.

So, after doing some research, here is the recipe I put together in the end.

You Will Need:
1 lb minced lamb
1 parsnip, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup peas
10-11 oz can of diced tomatoes
4 oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small online, chopped
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp powdered beef bullion
6 medium russet potatoes
1/2 milk
2 tbsp sour cream
4 tbsp butter
Fresh dill weed, parsley and thyme
1 cup of cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium pot bring about bring about 8 cups of salted water to a boil. Chunk your potatoes and add to boiling water. While potatoes are boiling, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and add chopped carrot, parsnip, onion and garlic. Before they start to caramelize add minced lamb and stir so that it evenly covers the bottom of the pan. Once lamb begins to brown and appear a little crumbly you'll want to add the teaspoon of powdered bullion. Stir in tomatoes. Add the dill, parsley and thyme and stir. Allow ingredients to simmer for about ten minutes. Check your potatoes. If they are ready for mashing, remove them from the heat and strain the water. Add butter, sour cream, salt, pepper and milk and begin mashing your potatoes. Return to your lamb and tomato mixture and add the tomato sauce and peas. Allow the mixture to bubble slowly, then begin to add the flour. Stir flour thoroughly into mixture and let cook for 5 minuter or so to get rid of any starchy flavor from the flour. Turn on your oven's broiler. Remove from heat and spread the lamb and vegetable mixture in an even layer into a baking dish. Next, layer the mashed potatoes on top and smooth them out. Place the dish under the broiler for three to five minutes, or until potatoes begin to turn golden brown. Remove and add the cheddar cheese. Return to the broiler for another two-three minutes until cheese browns into a nice crispy crust. Allow the dish to sit for about five minutes, and then serve.

Lamb really is so soft and savory in this dish. The carrots and parsnips are a nice flavor contrast to the tomatoes. I'll tell you what, I will never turn my nose up at Shepherd's Pie again, and neither will my family, who incidentally were very impressed with the outcome.

I hope you enjoy.

Zombie Defense Training and Zombedies

I already know that if I want to get my characters out of zombie infested areas, I'm going to have to do some serious zombie defense training. The inner-researcher has prompted me out into the garage twice to look at the machete we found after we bought the house almost four years ago. I keep thinking about how good it would feel to exercise my right arm on some of those pumpkins next door. Maybe a watermelon would be more realistic. Max Brooks' says that the best zombie defense weapon outside of your own physically fit body is a steel crowbar. Not only is it incredibly solid, but it's multi-functional in a world gone mad.

Some of the research I have been doing has been really interesting. The survivalist book I started with, How to Survive Anything, Anywhere by Chris McNab has some incredibly useful information for every day situations too. We hike, sometimes in state gamelands where there aren't marked trails, and it really pays to know how to set up an emergency shelter, but how many people know to trap a fish with a plastic soda bottle...

In honor of my zombie training, I rented the zombie comedy (zombedy) film Fido: all about a boy and his er... zombie? My daughter and I recently saw the previews on the Irish zombedy: Boy Eats Girl. I can't wait to watch it, but since tonight is Wednesday, I am going to tune out for two hours with TAPS and Josh Gates from Destination Truth. Maybe tonight, Josh will find the truth...

BTW, I haven't forgotten about posting my shepherd's pie recipe. I will definitely add it in later this evening.

And before I head out for a couple hours, I'd really like to hear anyone's thoughts about surviving a zombie apocalypse. What would you do to survive?